A premiere for a world and European champion: Andreas Obst has been named MVP of the 20th EuroLeague gameday for his memorable performance in Bayern Munich's 96:89 victory over Baskonia Vítoria. This is the first MVP award for the 29-year-old national player in his fourth year with Bayern in the top flight. Obst achieved a personal best with 37 points and an efficiency rating of 38, leading the team to its seventh win of the season.
The Munich shooting guard made seven of eleven three-point attempts (63%) and a total of 13 of 18 shots. He also grabbed three rebounds and made two assists, all in just under 29 minutes of playing time. He is currently the FCBB's top scorer in the EuroLeague with 13,8 points per game (39,5% three-pointers, 92,5% free throws).
Vezenkov and Dorsey are Olympiacos' top scoring duo
However, coach Svetislav Pesic particularly highlighted Obst's defensive work: “I like him a lot, not only because he always scores, but because he always takes responsibility in defense, which everyone can see. He is a very important player for us in defense, because the defensive concept starts with the point guard.”
Bayern's defense will be challenged to an even higher level on Friday evening, as the German champions visit title contenders Olympiacos Piraeus at 8:15 p.m. in the second part of their double week. The Greek champions are currently only in eighth place with 11 wins and 8 losses, but still have one game in hand. The hosts played a day earlier than Bayern, losing Tuesday's top match against defending champions Fenerbahce Istanbul 80:88 (40:36) in the final minutes.
Sunday against Bonn at BMW Park
Center Nikola Milutinov (11 ppg, 7,7 rpg) watched from the sidelines, but he could be back in action on Friday, as could last week's signing, Tyrique Jones from Partizan Belgrade (9,6 ppg). The enormously broad squad continues to be led by perennial MVP candidate Sasha Vezenkov (18,4 7,1 rpg), who is assisted this season by fellow guard Tyler Dorsey (18) as the second top scorer.
Bayern will be without amoung outhers captain Vladimir Lucic in Piraeus, who remained in the locker room at halftime against Baskonia due to muscle stiffness, as Pesic has already announced. In the Bundesliga, the league leaders will host Telekom Baskets Bonn less than 48 hours later, with tip-off at BMW Park on Sunday at 6 p.m.
“The game at Olympiakos doesn’t come at a good time, although a clash with this historic club is always a very big challenge,” said Pesic before departing on Thursday. “We’ve now won a few games in the Bundesliga and also in the EuroLeague, but we will be missing some players who are banged up. I hope others will seize their opportunity and give us fresh energy. Despite the problems and the great quality of Piraeus, we want to stay on our path.”